Stone turning dream into reality

Holly Springs native and former high school football standout Joseph Stone is turning his dreams into reality. He spent this past year as an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at Jackson State University.

Stone was a running back, wide receiver, and defensive back when he played high school football. He was covaledictorian and class president.

Stone went on to play college football at Delta State from 2017-2021. His first year of coaching was an internship at the University of Memphis and Millsaps College. He is presently a coach at Jackson State University.

Stone said his late grandmother, Rubie DeBerry, handed down his work ethic. He said being a strength and conditioning coach has always been his passion.

“I fell in love with it in high school while competing as a powerlifter and playing football. It’s what I believe helped me to exceed and achieve. It’s my passion because I think it is somewhat of a great equalizer,” he said.

Stone said quality implementation could make you strong, faster, resilient, and more explosive.

Stone said he loves seeing students reach new goals and excel physically and mentally by overcoming previous plateaus.

While Stone was at Jackson State, the team won the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) championship and earned a bid to the celebration bowl.

Stone was a coach with one of the most famous coaches in the game, Coach Deion Sanders (Prime).

“It was cool. I had to be careful not to be a fan because I was there to work,” Stone said. “The coaching staff was great. Sanders usually talked to my director on things that might concern me. I always say I worked around him, not necessarily with him. It was a great experience overall.”

While working at Jackson State, Stone learned a lot from watching and observing things.

“I am very appreciative for the head, strength coach allowing me to come to be a part and learn from him as well.” Stone hopes to have his own business one day training professional athletes.

“I want to train professional athletes. I want to combine offseason training and help athletes become better and healthier,” he said.

Ultimately, Stone wants to build good enough relationships with athletes, so he can get them to come to Holly Springs and do camps and to speak.

Stone is the son of Joseph and Sherna Jones, of Holly Springs.